Chapter 156: Swamp Fever!
Thunderlane was running as fast as his hooves could carry him, his destination clear in mind! He soon fell upon the crystal tree that was Shining Armor and Twilight's castle, and Shining's home away from home. He ran right up to the doors and pushed his way in, not stopping even for a second to catch his breath. But there was no sign of anypony anywhere, no one was there to greet him.
Undeterred, Thunderlane started searching all the rooms one by one. "Shining Armor! Twilight! Starlight! Spike! Anyone!" He called in vain. "Please, I need someone to be here! I need help!"
At last, nearly out of breath, Thunderlane pushed open the door to the kitchen. And that was when his eyes fell upon a most unusual scene:
Shining Armor stood in the center of the kitchen, watching as Twilight (who was covered in flour and wearing a chef's hat) pulled out a tray of what appeared to be muffins of some sort, and Spike pulled out some kind of buds (he was also wearing a chef's hat). "Uh, am I interrupting something?" Thunderlane questioned as he made his presence known.
Shining Armor chuckled. "Oh not at all, Thunderlane. Twilight and Spike simply decided to have a cook off, and they asked me to be the judge."
"We were going to have Starlight fill that role, but she ran off somewhere before that could happen. Something about not wanting to sample bad cooking." Twilight explained.
Spike, meanwhile, boasted. "I don't blame her. My cauliflower bites are gonna taste way better than your stale old sweet potato muffins. After all, I'm the one who does all the cooking around here."
Twilight just ribbed Spike in reply. "Don't think I somehow can't cook for myself. As part of my studies, Princess Celestia made sure to include cooking lessons. Besides, my cooking isn't that bad."
"Why don't we see what Thunderlane thinks?" Shining suggested. "After all, a second opinion wouldn't hurt."
But Thunderlane shook his head. "There's no time for that! I need your help, badly!"
"Why? What's the matter?" Shining asked his friend. "Is everything alright?"
At that Thunderlane responded with a glum "No," and then he started to spout out at a mile a minute. "Rumblehasswampfeverandthere'snocureandtheonlyponywhocancurehimistheMysticalMaskandIneedyourhelptofindher!"
"Uh, what was that?" The prince commented as he put a hoof to his ear. "I couldn't make that out. Could you slow down a little, Thunderlane?"
Reluctantly, the pegasus stallion took a deep breath and told his friends his tale of woe. "Rumble and his friends went down to the swamp near the Everfree Forest, they wanted to help Zecora collect some crisscross moss for her potions. I knew it was dangerous, but I stupidly told Rumble he could go ahead and go there anyway," His lips began to quiver as he went on. "A plant sprayed him and then he suddenly started breaking out in spots and coughing bubbles. The doctors made it clear those are the unmistakable symptoms of swamp fever! And not only is there no cure, the final stage of the disease has the afflicted turn into the trees that drop the flowers which spread the disease in the first place."
All in the kitchen let out a collective gasp. "No!" Shining exclaimed! "Why Rumble?! He's a good kid, he doesn't deserve to have his life end like that!"
"That's why I came here!" Thunderlane explained with tears in his eyes. "As his big brother I have to find a way to cure him! Then I remembered something from long ago, when I was younger. My parents used to tell me stories about a pony called the Mystical Mask, a sorceress who could cure anything, and I do mean anything. So I was hoping there might be a book or two in the library that could tell me who the Mystical Mask really is and where I could find her. If she really could cure anything, she's bound to have notes on swamp fever and a cure for it!"
"Ah, a research session!" Twilight's eyes lit up. "Well why didn't you say so?! I'm sure we'll find something, Thunderlane. You've come to the right place."
Thunderlane, Shining Armor, Twilight, and Spike all quickly made their way to the castle library and started pulling down books from the shelves left and right. Their goal was to find any kind of lead about the Mystical Mask or anypony who might possibly resemble her.
Hours ticked by and books began to pile up on the floor, but no one could find a single lead about the Mystical Mask. Not a page, not a sentence, not even a word.
Day turned into night and the library shelves began to be depleted, but there was still no progress being made. At last, Shining got up and reluctantly he said to his friend. "I think we may have to call it a night, Thunderlane. We've exhausted just about every book there is. If there is a lead on the Mystical Mask, it's not here. Maybe there'll be something in the Canterlot archives, or even the Crystal Empire's library. And we can check them out first thing tomorrow."
But the pegasus stallion firmly shook his head in protest. "No! Rumble's counting on me and I won't let him down! I promised I'd find a way to cure him, and I meant every word of that promise!" He stubbornly declared. "I'll stay up all night and re-check every book myself if I have to! I'm not giving up!"
"But if you don't rest you'll have no energy left to continue the search, and then you'll be of no help to anyone at all," Shining protested and then pleaded. "Please, Thunderlane. I know it's unfortunate, but searching in vain like this isn't going to solve anything."
"I don't care! As long as Rumble's still a pony, I'll do everything I can to cure him!" Thunderlane firmly declared. "You'd do the same if it was your younger sibling whose life was in danger!"
Sensing that his friend would not yield, Shining reluctantly backed off. "Okay, Thunderlane, you win," He told his friend and then yawned. "I'll go to bed for a while and get some sleep, and I hope you'll do the same eventually. Wake me up when you're ready to call it a night, and I'll continue your search for you. We'll be more productive that way." And then he left the library, leaving Thunderlane alone by the flickering candlelight.
The next day dawned, and Shining woke with a start when Thunderlane threw open the door to the prince's bedroom and proudly declared! "Shining! I've got a lead!"
Stumbling awake the alicorn rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Oh, you did? What did you find?" He questioned.
"It wasn't easy, but what I did was cross reference a book about healing and medicine with a book about masks, and then use a third book to translate it all from old ponish," Thunderlane explained. "And there it all was, clear as day! The Mystical Mask wasn't a legend, the Mystical Mask was a real pony. And her identity was none other than Mage Meadowbrook!"
At that Shining gasped, stricken with admiration! "No way! As in the Mage Meadowbrook?! The ancient sorceress from Hayseed Swamp?!"
Thunderlane nodded. "You know about her?"
"Well, no, but I remember Twily studied her a lot in Celestia's school," Shining confessed. "If I remember correctly though, Meadowbrook was a mare of mystery. She never took off her mask, no one knew who she really was or if she was even a unicorn at all. And she apparently disappeared one day out of the blue and no one ever saw her again. No notes, no trace, nothing."
"That's the thing about Meadowbrook though, she wasn't just a sorceress. She was also a healer, and back then healers were known to wear masks so they wouldn't get sick themselves," Thunderlane explained. "It all makes sense, I can't believe I never realized it until now!"
Shining couldn't help but feel the slightest bit guilty upon hearing that. Thunderlane had worked himself to the bone to find information on Mage Meadowbrook, and the most the prince had been able to offer so far was moral support. Rumble meant so much to him, how many times had seen the little colt at Thunderlane's side or otherwise roaming around as a Cutie Mark Crusader? This rescue effort should've been a team effort, and yet he hadn't contributed much to it.
However, a more concerning matter soon found its way to the forefront of the prince's mind. Looking at Thunderlane more closely, he noticed bags underneath his friend's light gold eyes. "How much sleep did you get last night, Thunderlane?" He inquired of his friend.
"Oh I couldn't sleep, not with Rumble's life at stake! I'm sure you could relate if the roles were reversed and it was your younger sibling whose life hung in the balance." Thunderlane immediately answered.
At that Shining became concerned. "Thunderlane, I thought I told you to wake me up so we could take turns. I could've found the same information. It's not good for you to not get sleep. You'll be of no help to anyone if you don't get enough rest."
But the pegasus stallion just stomped a hoof down in protest. "I'll rest when this is over and Rumble's back to normal! Until then, I'll do what I must to save him!"
"At the least do you have an idea of where we can find a cure for Swamp Fever?" Shining questioned.
Thunderlane shook his head. "It never said Meadowbrook found any sort of cure for Swamp Fever, but I reckon if we go to Hayseed Swamp and search her home, we'll find something that can help us. They say Swamp Fever originated in Hayseed Swamp, hence the name. If anypony know about a cure, it would have to be Meadowbrook or one of her descendants."
Shining threw the covers off his bed and quickly got to his hooves. "Well then, I suppose we're off to Hayseed Swamp," But then a thought struck him. "Although, shouldn't we get some breakfast first? It's a long way to Hayseed Swamp, and I don't think they'll have hayburger stands there."
"One step ahead of you, Shining," Spike declared as he strolled into the room, holding a brown paper bag in his claws. "Twilight had a feeling you and Thunderlane might take off on short notice, so she asked me to pack something for the road just in case. Plenty of delicious cauliflower bites in there."
"What about the sweet potato muffins?" Shining questioned.
Spike gulped and tried his hardest not to look guilty. "Don't tell Twilight, but I kind of ate them all. I couldn't help myself. They were actually pretty delicious. I take back all the jokes about her cooking."
Shining just giggled. "She always did like baking cookies with Mom and Cadence. Don't worry, Spike, your secret's safe with me." And he gave a knowing wink as he took the bag with his magic.
It wasn't long before Shining and Thunderlane were taking to the skies, making a beeline for Hayseed Swamp which was roughly southeast of Ponyville.
Thunderlane's lack of sleep started to catch up with him on the way, as he bumped into Shining accidentally when he briefly closed his eyes. "Sorry," He apologized with a yawn. "Guess you had a point about the lack of sleep."
"You're right to be worried about Rumble, and it's noble you want to do everything in your power to help him. But you're not invincible, Thunderlane, and you know it," Shining corrected. "I can help you if you just let me, don't try to do it all on your own. We both know what happened the last time one of us thought he had to be the big darn hero."
Thunderlane tried not to groan. "I feel guilty just thinking about it. We really should've listened to you from the beginning, Shining. But we didn't take things seriously until it was too late, and that caused you to do something stupid and rash," A sigh of regret escaped his lips. "And because of that you nearly died."
"The only one was really in the wrong was me," Shining confessed to Thunderlane. "I let tunnel vision cloud my judgement, all I could think about was getting to the hippogriffs and seeking their help. You guys were the big heroes when it mattered most, the allies you made were the ones who helped save the day. I wrote them off because they weren't like us, because we weren't in Equestria. And if the Storm King hadn't been who he was, if he'd been smart enough not to betray Tempest, that victory would've likely turned into a defeat."
"You were only doing what you thought was right," Thunderlane protested in reply. "And in the end, you were able to turn Tempest from an enemy into an ally, just as you did with Starlight Glimmer and Fluttershy did with Discord. Not to mention what Rumble and his friends did with Diamond Tiara."
At that Shining declared. "And we owe it to Rumble to do our best! Now isn't the time for petty disagreements or fighting over who should play hero! We're going to save him, and we're going to do it together!"
"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Thunderlane proudly declared as the two touched down in Hayseed Swamp.
Hayseed Swamp was lightly occupied, consisting of just a few houses built out of wood, a small boardwalk over the swamp itself, and plenty of trees.
Meadowbrook's home was inside the tallest tree of them all and it appeared to be unoccupied. However, when Thunderlane tried to push on the door he found that it wouldn't budge at all. "Rats!" He complained, before his eyes narrowed in frustration. "Well then, if the door won't open we'll just have to break it down. Stand back, Shining, I don't want you to get hurt."
"Before you do something we'll both regret, maybe you should try the handle?" Shining suggested with a frown and an unamused tone of voice, gesturing to the huge, round knocker on the center of the door.
Thunderlane nervously chuckled. "Uh... it uh... really kind of... blends in with the bark, you know."
"Yeah, easy to miss." The alicorn prince sarcastically quipped before he pulled back on the knocker with his magic. The door swung open with little effort.
Taking that as an invitation to go inside, the two stallions did so. Once inside they were surprised to see what looked like a huge, bubbling cauldron in the center of the room, a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor, and a few old and worn masks that hung on a rack. The whole place had an almost neglected vibe to it, all that was missing were the cobwebs.
"This is freaky. I don't think anypony's lived here for years." Shining commented.
"I was thinking the same thing," Thunderlane nodded. "Better spread out and find what we're looking for. The sooner we find that cure, the sooner we can leave."
But all of a sudden, from a rocking chair emerged a short but rather rotund earth pony stallion with a coat of moderate orange! He sported a mane and tail of light yellow and moderate gold done up in a set of curls (and also a beard), moderate magenta eyes, and a cutie mark depicting a sun spiral and two cattail stalks crossing over one another. He wore a red bandanna around his forehead and had on a green vest with a yellow collar. "Can I help you, travelers?" He greeted in a noticeable Southern accent.
Both Shining and Thunderlane let out a scream of fright!
"Whoa, whoa!" The plump earth pony stallion cautioned as he raised a hoof. "Sorry for scarin' ya, I tend to do that. Name's Cattail. And this is my place, or at least it is now. Used to belong to my ancestors."
"We're terribly sorry to intrude, Mr. Cattail, sir," Shining apologized. "We were just here because we were reading about Mage Meadowbrook, and found out she lived here."
"We're trying to find a cure for Swamp Fever and we hoped she might have documented such a cure somewhere." Thunderlane added.
Cattail let out a chuckle. "Funny you should mention that, 'cause Mage Meadowbrook happened to be one of my ancestors. She never had foals of her own, but some of her cousins did and they took over managin' this place after she disappeared. Eventually it was passed down to me, and I try to keep things as they were the day Meadowbrook left. Never know when she might be comin' back, whether as a pony or a spirit."
"Did Meadowbrook ever have an encounter with Swamp Fever at all?" Shining questioned.
Cattail put a hoof to his chin as he pondered the question. "Haven't done much readin' on her work I'm afraid, don't have much to go on besides the stories," He then chuckled. "Don't know where ponies go off thinkin' she was this great enchantress, she was just a healer and a darn good one at that!" Then he motioned a hoof to a nearby book stack. "This is Meadowbrook's personal library. It's where she kept all her important recollections and notes. Never touched it myself, didn't think it was polite to intrude. But I reckon you'll find what you're lookin' for here."
"Just one question, Mr. Cattail." Thunderlane spoke up.
"Please, just Cattail will do, thank ya kindly." Cattail replied.
"How does a unicorn like Meadowbrook end up with an earth pony descendant like you? Especially since you just said she never had foals." Thunderlane inquired in confusion.
At that Cattail threw back his head and gave a hearty laugh. "Meadowbrook a unicorn? Oh, that's a good one! If she were here now, I reckon she'd think the same," Once he'd regained his composure he explained. "Meadowbrook was an earth pony like me and just about everypony else who's ever dwelled in this here swamp at some point or another. Always took pride in that fact. I reckon it's 'cause of that healer's mask she always wore that ponies outside the swamp thought she was someone else entirely. It's said that she had a coat of light cerulean, eyes the most brilliant turquoise you'd ever see, and a pink and moderate scarlet mane and tail like mine. Her cutie mark wasn't known, but I bet it had somethin' to do with healin'. It was her callin' in life, like her mother and her grandmother. An entire family of healers, the last of their kind in fact. After Meadowbrook left and her immediate relatives passed on, there was no one left to inherit that healin' touch, not even me."
"Oh." Was all Shining and Thunderlane could bring themselves to say in response. It was clear that there was a huge disconnect between the Meadowbrook of legend, and the Meadowbrook of actual life. Rather than press the subject further they decided it best to instead focus their efforts on research, hoping to find a cure for Swamp Fever or at least a lead to said cure.
Thunderlane read from the first book he laid eyes upon, opened it up, and read it aloud. "Today my mama made me eat peas. Peas are yucky, I hate them! When someday I have foals of my own, I will never feed them peas," He closed up the book a second later. "Probably best to skip that one, I doubt Meadowbrook found the cure as a foal."
Cattail nodded his head in agreement. "She wouldn't even be able to touch a cauldron 'til she was at least eight or nine I reckon'. She never was the best at organizin', tended to keep all her best information to herself."
"But she sure liked to write about personal details, seems like she really wanted to have a family of her own someday," Shining commented. "Get a load of this one: 'I met this weird colt today. He pulled my mane, so I put a frog atop his head.' Not very helpful, but I do kind of wanna see where it goes."
"It's not how we swamp ponies show love if that's what you're wonderin'," Cattail replied with a shake of his head. "That was usually a sign that somepony really doesn't like you. Had that happen to me a few times growin' up. That's why I moved in here, figured I could at least make myself useful in case Meadowbrook came back. Kind of would like for that to happen, there's a lot I'd want to ask her."
"Sometimes I wish I could meet my ancestors face to face. I'd imagine there are a couple of things I'd end up discussing with them at great length," Shining nodded. "And I know Twilight also dreams of meeting Starswirl the Bearded. Oddly enough, he too disappeared long ago without a trace. Come to think of it, it seems like a lot of old legends end that way."
"Probably just one of them weird coincidences. I tend not to think about it too much." Cattail shrugged in response.
Just then, Thunderlane raised his voice and proudly declared! "Hey, listen to this! I think I've found what we're looking for: 'Today, I tried again to brew an un-sniffle elixir. And I finally got it right!'" He continued to read at length about Meadowbrook's story, which sure enough included a mention of Swamp Fever. And this is the story that Meadowbrook had written down:
The young Mage Meadowbrook (or just Meadowbrook as she was known back then, the mage title would come later) had indeed completed her un-sniffle elixir, and gave the concoction to a squirrel that had a red and stuffy nose. The squirrel took one sip of the elixir and like magic its stuffy nose disappeared, its nostrils became unclogged.
Meadowbrook's mother had observed the whole thing, and she smiled as she said to her daughter. "Very impressive, Meadowbrook. I think it's time you had this." She presented a small box to her daughter, who opened it and grabbed hold of a bird shaped mask with yellow and blue stripes.
Meadowbrook was delighted and let out a gasp of joy! "My very own healer's mask! You think I'm finally ready to be a healer like you, Mother?"
Meadowbrook's mom nodded. "Yes indeed. As of today, you're a certified healer, and it falls to you to continue the family tradition. Remember that you're a healer above all else, and healers take no sides."
"I'll remember that, Mother." Meadowbrook nodded as she clutched the mask in her hooves.
Just then there came a knock at the door. Meadowbrook's mom opened it and was immediately greeted with the sight of a sick pony suffering from an aliment she had never seen before. The pony was covered in orange spots and was coughing up bubbles. "Good heavens! What caused all this?!" She inquired of her new patient.
The stallion spoke not a word, but hoofed over a flower like plant. It seemed that such a plant was responsible for his current condition, or at least that's what he was implying.
As this disease had never been seen before, Meadowbrook's mom took to calling it Swamp Fever. The symptoms were easily identifiable: Orange spots, dulled coats, coughing bubbles, and the sprouting of leaves and bark for those in the final stages of the disease.
Day after day Meadowbrook and her mom worked round the clock in the hopes of finding a cure. The plant that seemed to cause the disease refused to yield any of its secrets though. Meanwhile, Swamp Fever spread rapidly. Before long the entire population of Hayseed Swamp was coming down with it. Even Meadowbrook's mom was not immune. Just when it seemed she'd finally found a possible treatment, the flower had reacted by spraying its pollen into her face! Within hours she was coughing up bubbles and running a temperature!
Poor Meadowbrook found herself alone and faced with the impossible, to find a way to cure a disease that seemed to have no known cure. A disease that even her mother hadn't been able to outsmart and reverse.
Deciding it best to get away from her troubles and study the flowers in their natural environment, Meadowbrook left the safety of the bayou for the swamp. Just looking at the accursed flowers filled her with dread and hopelessness. Those seemingly innocent floral creations had come into her life and stricken down everyone she knew and cared about. Some of her closest friends had already succumbed to the disease and become trees, and now her own mother had only days before the same fate would befall her too.
But just when it seemed all hope was lost, the solution came to Meadowbrook in the most unexpected of ways. A series of bees with blue stripes instead of black and with little bolts of electricity surging out of them, landed on the flowers. But even when the flowers sprayed their pollen, the bees were unaffected. They gathered the necter and flew off back to their nest.
At that, realization struck the young Meadowbrook! "Flash bees! Of course!" She exclaimed and chased after them! "If the bees aren't affected by the flowers, then there's a chance their honey is the cure I've been searching for! I just have to convince them to let me have some!" She thought to herself.
It wasn't long before the young healer approached the tree that housed the flash bees' hive. Carefully she climbed up the trunk and perched on a branch overlooking the hive. She reached out a hoof to try and grab some of the honey, but a twig snapped and the flash bees woke up! "Uh-oh." Was all the young mare had time to say, before she was stung by the flash bees and fell down to the ground. Luckily she wasn't hurt badly, the soreness of the stings would fade with time.
There had to be a way to get the flash bees to relinquish their honey, Meadowbrook didn't have time to wait until they next left it to gather more necter. But how was she going to appease the bees without getting stung? There had to be a way!
Suddenly, a lone flash bee came buzzing by! Meadowbrook quickly donned her healer's mask in the hopes the flash bee wouldn't recognize her. It worked. In fact, not only did the flash bee not take notice of Meadowbrook but it also landed atop her mask and rubbed up against it. The bee seemed to think the mask was one of its fellow drones. Meadowbrook held perfectly still as the bee perched atop her mask for a bit, then flew off again.
Clutching her mask, the healer beamed with pride! "I just found the solution I've been searchin' for!" She declared. "Hold on, Mother, I'm gonna get that honey and finally put an end to this nightmare!" And she donned her mask as she then added. "Here goes nothin'!"
"My hunch was correct, the flash bee honey was the cure," Thunderlane read as Meadowbrook's account came to an end. "And today I cured Mother and the rest of the bayou. It was the greatest feeling I'd ever had, and I vowed to dedicate my life to the healer's cause and helping others."
Cattail nodded. "And that's exactly what she did. There wasn't a disease or ailment that Meadowbrook couldn't cure. But she was never good in crowds, always felt there was somewhere else she needed to be. Probably why she never took off her mask, and why ponies outside Hayseed Swamp started thinkin' she was a unicorn and a sorceress."
"Well all we have to do now is find a flash bee hive and get that honey," Shining realized. "Cattail, by any chance do you have the mask that Meadowbrook says she used in her diary?"
Cattail nodded once again, tossing the mask toward Shining who caught it with his magic. "There you go," He replied, before he looked at Thunderlane and gulped. "Say, your friend ain't lookin' too good. Think he might be comin' down with somethin'."
"What do you mean..." Shining began as he turned around. But when he too saw what Thunderlane looked like, he was stricken with dread.
Thunderlane shot back a look of confusion. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong with my mane? I know I haven't really slept in a while but I don't see why that's such a big deal."
"M-maybe it's better to just show you." The prince gulped as he levitated over a small mirror.
Thunderlane took one look at his own reflection and nearly dropped the mirror in shock! His coat had started to dull, and his face was rapidly being covered by orange spots! "Oh no! I've caught Swamp Fever!" He realized with horror. "Must've picked it up from Rumble while I was taking him to the doctor! How could I have been so stupid?! I knew Swamp Fever was contagious!"
Shining immediately threw up his signature shield spell, encasing Thunderlane in a protective bubble! "Always comes in handy when dealing with Flurry Heart, never thought I'd have to use it on one of my friends," He commented and then he looked at Thunderlane. "We can't risk you infecting Cattail or myself! You need to rest, Thunderlane, or else your symptoms will only get worse! I know how to get the honey, let me take the risk!"
From inside the bubble the pegasus stallion pressed his hooves up against the edges and protested. "No! I have to go out there! Rumble's counting on me, I can't let him down! I have to help him, just like Meadowbrook helped her mother and all those bayou ponies long ago!"
"But Thunderlane, don't you understand?" Shining pleaded with his sick friend. "As much as Meadowbrook helped to heal and take care of others, I'm sure she also understood the importance of taking care of one's self. You're no help to anyone in this state. If Meadowbrook were here now, I'm sure she'd agree that as noble as your intentions are, they're ultimately short sighted and reckless. How are you going to help Rumble if you collapse from exhaustion, or worse turn into a tree?"
Despite coughing up bubbles, Thunderlane only protested. "You're not changing my mind, Shining! Please, I have to do this! Rumble's counting on me!"
"There's really no convincing you otherwise, is there?" The alicorn prince sighed as he shook his head. "Well if you're really that determined to go through with it I suppose I can't stand in your way. But let me help you. If we work together, we can get that flash bee honey without a fuss and put this whole nightmare behind us."
"I sure hope you two know what you're doin'," Cattail commented as he began to shudder. "Those flash bees are nasty critters, and they can get awfully aggressive. Trust me, I've learned that fact the hard way."
"Don't worry, Cattail. With Meadowbrook's mask and a little bit of luck, we should be able to get the flash bee honey." Shining reassured the plump earth pony. In his mind though, the prince was thinking. "This has to be the craziest thing I've ever done! I can't even begin to count the ways this could go wrong!"
As luck would have it the flash bee hive was just a short distance away from Meadowbrook's home, high up in a tree overlooking the swamp. With them all huddled together inside their hive, they were capable of generating small clouds of lightning, which crackled and sizzled ominously.
Despite his condition, Thunderlane managed to slip the same mask Meadowbrook had claimed to use over his head. But when he tried to climb up the tree trunk and reach the hive, his strength failed him and he just pawed at the ground helplessly.
"It's okay, Thunderlane, I've got you. Just focus on getting that honey!" Shining advised as he used his magic to lift Thunderlane up the tree and place him on a branch overlooking the hive. "And whatever you do, don't take off that mask until you're on solid ground again."
"Got it!" Thunderlane nodded and then said to himself. "Mind over matter! Maximum effort!"
Cattail dove for cover in a nearby bush. "Oh golly, I can't watch!" He remarked. "This has to be the craziest thing I've ever seen a pony do!"
The flash bees quickly started to swam towards Thunderlane, aware of an apparent intruder. But then they took notice of the mask and seemed to hesitate, as if wondering whether there really was an intruder or not.
Thinking quickly, Thunderlane started to making buzzing noises as he bobbed his head back and forth. That was enough for the flash bees to back off, as far as they were convinced this stranger was not a stranger, it was one of them and thus offered them no ill will. Thunderlane just continued to buzz as he reached a hoof into the hive and started scooping some honey into a jar. "Shining! I think it's working!" He called through the mask.
"Excellent!" Shining called from below. "Fill up that jar, and then we'll see if Meadowbrook's hunch was correct."
With a jar full of flash bee honey, the two stallions (and Cattail) retreated to the safety of Meadowbrook's home. Thunderlane took a spoonful of the sweet tasting honey. In an instant his coat regained its glow, the orange spots faded completely, and the bubble coughing stopped. "It worked! It worked!" Thunderlane eagerly proclaimed as he bounced all around! "Now we just need to get this stuff home to Rumble, and hope we're not too late to save him!"
"Right you are, we've got no time to waste!" Shining declared. "As soon as we're close to Ponyville, name the hospital your brother's staying at and I'll take us there," But he briefly turned to Cattail and said to him. "And thanks for your services, Cattail. You've been a terrific help."
Cattail just gave a salute. "Just doin' my best to keep the bayou hospitality alive and well. And if you ever need my help again, just give a shout. Reckon it won't be long before this place becomes one of them fancy historical sights or somethin'."
"Only if we tell," Shining gave a knowing wink. "And I think some legends are better off staying legends. If ponies knew Meadowbrook was just a plain old earth pony instead of this ancient sorceress, I don't think they'd be teaching about her as much as they do now."
"Well I'll still probably share some of these journals with folks who wanna know. Never know who else may be inspired by Meadowbrook's legacy," Cattail replied. "Now you two better be on your way."
The two stallions departed Hayseed Swamp a few seconds later without fanfare, and their trip back to Ponyville passed in silence. It was only once they'd reached the hospital Rumble had been admitted to, and convinced the doctors and nursers to let them administer the cure, that they breathed a sigh of relief.
From his hospital bed, Rumble immediately threw his hooves around his older brother. "You really are a life saver, big bro! I thought for sure I was gonna turn into a tree!" He exclaimed as tears rolled down his face. "It was so scary, to think my life was over."
Thunderlane (with tears in his own eyes) simply replied. "Well lucky for you you have two great ponies who risked life and limb to find the cure."
Shining couldn't help but comment. "Emphasis on the life part, I might add. Your brother actually ended up contracting Swamp Fever himself."
"Probably got it from me," Rumble giggled. "Guess I should be more careful about going near swamps without protection."
"Maybe, but for right now all that matters is that you're alive and well!" Thunderlane happily exclaimed! "And after what I've been through these past twenty four hours, I don't think Spitfire will object too much to me taking some time off. Family comes first."
Stats
Page generated in 0.039 seconds
Total duration
656 users online
745,880 hits today, 2,591,549 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Simply excellent job on the exchanges, characterizations, general story wrap-up and future story set-up in all the right places for this story. And, yeah, you made some really great points in the author's notes. I particularly liked how you modified things to make more sense for Thunderlane rather than Fluttershy as well as the nods to your spin on the movie.
Yes, I am certainly going to be looking forward to more of this.
If you think about it in the Beginning of the episode ... Oh god the everfree Forest trees are made of ponys??!!! 😨
Oh so you past the my little pony movie hmm thats a shame oh well
10460678 I did the movie in this universe in a separate fic.